Republican City Councilman Kevin Faulconer had been considering a run for the past several months. Today he announced he has decided to stay put at the city council level.
“I’ve decided that the council needs a responsible reformer to continue the work we’ve been doing and that’s the best place for me,” he said. “And I’m going to continue to be that leader on the council and drive some very important projects home in the next year, chief among those, pension reform.”
Faulconer said he’s known District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, a Republican, for 10 years and said she’s excellently qualified to move San Diego forward. But Dumanis has come out against a 401(k) ballot measure that would eliminate pensions for all city employees except police officers. She has said she believes firefighters should receive pensions as well. Faulconer is one of the leading forces behind the measure. He brushed off their different stances.
“There may be some differences on certain issues that we’ll have. But from my standpoint, overall she’s going to be able bring people together,” he said.
Faulconer’s decision not to run will make fundraising slightly less competitive for Dumanis and the other declared Republican candidates, City Councilman Carl DeMaio and State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego. Political Scientist Carl Luna said all three are going to go after the same political contributions
"Each have their own inventory base but they’re going to be poaching out of the same pool," said Luna.
No Democratic candidates have officially declared they’re running, though Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, has said she’s considering it. Candidates are now allowed to begin raising money. The primary election is set for June 5, 2012.
